Tough-on-Crime Law: History Corrected

In the piece I highlighted here last week, about Congressman Bob Livingston’s federal law against three-time violent offenders, I had the timeline slightly off.

Since original publication, I have been apprised of this video — http://www.c-span.org/video/?26965-1/violent-crime-legislation — which shows the true timeline. Livingston did not wait for Washington State to pass its referendum; he introduced the federal “LIFER” bill as soon as he heard that Washington State was planning an initiative on a Three Strikes law. He thus introduced his federal legislation not at the end of 1993, but in July of 1992. Once Washington State voters passed it a year later, Livingston’s federal legislation gained rapid traction as described in the article.

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